1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sliding seat position detection system that includes a sensor provided on a seat that can slide on a floor of a vehicle, and a magnetic body provided on the floor, the detection system detecting that the seat is at a predetermined position when the magnetic body is positioned beside the sensor as the seat slides.
2. Discussion of Relevant Art
Such a sliding seat position detection system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,529. This sliding seat position detection system is used in order to control the operation of an airbag system, etc. according to the fore-and-aft position of a seat, and the position of the seat is magnetically detected according to the relative position between a sensor provided on the seat and a magnetic flange provided on the vehicle floor.
In the above-mentioned conventional detection system, the flange is positioned beside the sensor when the seat moves forward, and the flange is positioned away from the sensor when the seat moves backward. Therefore, the sensor is exposed when the seat is at the forward position, and in some cases foreign matter gets caught in or attached to the sensor. If the foreign matter is magnetic, there is a possibility that the sensor misidentifies the foreign matter as the flange and erroneously detects the position of the seat.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sliding seat position detection system that can prevent erroneous detection due to foreign matter caught in or attached to a sensor.
In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sliding seat position detection system that includes a sensor provided on a seat that can slide on a floor of a vehicle, and a magnetic body provided on the floor, the detection system detecting that the seat is at a predetermined position when the magnetic body is positioned beside the sensor as the seat slides, wherein the detection system further includes a non-magnetic body that is connected to the magnetic body, the non-magnetic body being positioned beside the sensor when the seat is at a position other than the predetermined position.
In accordance with this arrangement, the magnetic body is positioned beside the sensor when the seat is at the predetermined position that is to be detected, and the non-magnetic body is positioned beside the sensor when the seat is at a position other than the predetermined position that is to be detected. Therefore, the sensor is always covered with either the magnetic body or the non-magnetic body, thereby preventing erroneous detection due to foreign matter caught in or attached to the sensor.
A shielding member 23 and a target detection member 23xe2x80x2 in the disclosed embodiments correspond to the magnetic body of the present invention; a cover member 24 of the embodiments corresponds to the non-magnetic body in the present invention; and a magnetic sensor 27 and a magnetic body sensor 27xe2x80x2 of the embodiments correspond to the sensor of the present invention.
Modes for carrying out the present invention are explained below by reference to embodiments of the present invention shown in the attached drawings.